In 1984, when Elisabeth Fritzl was 18 years old, her father Josef locked her in a secret lair that he'd built in the basement of their home in Austria.

 In 1984, when Elisabeth Fritzl was 18 years old, her father Josef locked her in a secret lair that he'd built in the basement of their home in Austria.

There, he began repeatedly raping her for the next 24 years, causing her to give birth to seven children: Kerstin, Stefan, Lisa, Monika, Alexander, Michael, and Felix. One died shortly after birth, and three others remained in captivity with Elisabeth. But Josef took the other three to live upstairs with him and his wife. 

Every time Josef brought a child upstairs, he told Elisabeth's mother — who was allegedly unaware that the lair existed — that their daughter had run off and joined a cult. He also said that Elisabeth had left the babies on the doorstep with a note saying she wanted her children to be raised by their grandparents. Finally, in 2008, Elisabeth seized a chance to escape when her oldest daughter fell ill and she convinced Josef to take her to the hospital.